Miami : US goalkeeper Tim Howard believes World Cup group rivals England are being underrated by many and are a "fantastic" team that will be tough to beat at next month's World Cup finals.
Howard, who plays for Everton in England's Premier League, will face Wayne Rooney and company when the United States face Fabio Capello's side in their first Group C match on June 12.
"I think they are probably better than people think they are. They are a phenomenal team," Howard told Reuters in a telephone interview on Thursday.
The former Manchester United keeper believes that the top players on the England team like Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard are headed to South Africa at the right age.
"Their big, key players are hitting the stride of their careers at the moment. They are right in their prime," he said. "With all the experience that is on that team, Champions League finals, domestic Cup finals, league medals and the list goes on and on, you have a pretty good team and that is an understatement."
"They look fantastic and they are going to give us all that we can handle and we are going to have to be very, very good on that day to pull off a result," he added.
But the US squad, who will also face Slovenia and Algeria in Group C, believe they can pull off a surprise after beating European champions Spain in the Confederations Cup in South Africa last year before losing 3-2 to Brazil in the final.
"We know that in the big games, the big moments, we can compete and given the right performances we can put ourselves in the position to get a result," said Howard.
"We just try and go in their and give the right performance to put ourselves up to be in the thick of it and that is what you have to do when you are going in as the underdog."
US coach Bob Bradley's plans were hit hard in October when striker Charlie Davies was hurt in a horrific car accident that cost him a place in the World Cup while central defender Oguchi Onyewu was sidelined seven months with a knee injury.
But while Howard said that was a tough time for the team, he said they are finding their form and could benefit from a pair of 'secret weapons' in little-used strikers Herculez Gomez and Edson Buddle.
"We qualified for the World Cup and then we had two major, major injuries and they are not just team mates but good friends so it was difficult," said Howard.
"We do feel like we are strong, even though we are missing Charlie. We have brought in two really good forwards who at the moment are scoring goals in bunches which is always really good for strikers. Strikers are a crazy breed, they run hot and cold and when they are hot they are like gold."
